We welcome the return of the Jane Goodall Institute, a gathering of project leaders from across the world who spend a week in Windsor on organisational and personal development, strategic planning and information sharing. The presence of Jane Goodall herself throughout the week is a rare privilege.
This is an international gathering to promote and explore the concept of High Performance Learning, which uses findings from neuroscience and psychology that suggest we can ‘build’ better brains and attain success for greater numbers of students. Taking what is known about how people reach advanced cognitive performance, the consultation translates this into a workable model for schools.
The consultation, a partnership with the Foundation for Education Development (FED), will look at the potential solutions a new Government might explore in order to improve key areas of our education system for the long term. We will focus on three important areas; Workforce, Inclusion and MAT/School Partnerships. We will also discuss work that will be undertaken on Artificial Intelligence, Financial Literacy and Innovation in Education.
The St George’s House Consultation on Global Food Systems in 2023 identified livestock production as a pivotal issue for transformation of food systems to be sustainable for the future.
There is an urgency to this agenda, since livestock production is a principal driver of, or a major contributor to, biodiversity loss, deforestation, climate change, soil degradation, and overuse and pollution of water. It contributes to key non-communicable diseases and antimicrobial resistance, as well as increasing the risk of future pandemics. The IPCC has identified changes in meat and dairy consumption as one of the most effective measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, with co-benefits for the environment, health, food security, animal welfare, and biodiversity.
However, international fora, governments, food businesses and civil society have found it difficult to address the role that livestock should play in future-fit, sustainable food systems. This is particularly pressing for nations of the ‘Global South’, where the livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers are under threat from further unsustainable intensification by large-scale producers. In the ‘Global North’ the issue of reduced livestock production and consumption has become highly polarised.
A St George’s House Consultation provides an ideal and constructive forum for a diverse group of key stakeholders to explore the challenges and develop a way forward together. The aim would be co-create a narrative and agenda for action that can be taken into preparation for the critical climate COP30 to be held in Brazil, for the UN Food Systems Summit stock-take and for other international policy fora.
To many, the charity sector is the ‘third’ sector in name and pecking order. Primarily seen as a provider of relief, ‘charity’ is frequently associated with voluntarism and inefficiency. It is often viewed with suspicion by both left and right. For those leading some of our best-known charities, their perspective is very different. Our purpose in April is to explore what a stronger relationship might look like and what it could deliver for the UK. Together, we will endeavour to bring to life a vision in which charities are respected partners to government and play their full role in helping to drive reform – getting upstream of complex problems, strengthening policy, and building public support for long-term change.
A series of essays by CRG members will kick start the conversation by examining different aspects of the relationship that are fundamental to reform and progress. These will be made available online to participants well ahead of the April gathering.
The Senior Faith Leadership programme brings together emergent leaders from the three Abrahamic faiths. During the three days, they explore issues pertinent to leadership and engage in scriptural reasoning as a way of understanding each other’s faith.
